Maha doctors put on hold fresh transplants after kidney racket

Mumbai: In the backdrop of an alleged kidney transplant racket at Mumbai's Hiranandani Hospital, a group of senior nephrologists and urologists in Maharashtra have put on hold fresh transplants till the government steps in to provide clarity on procedural intricacies involved in such surgeries.

Shrirang Bicchu, a nephrologist at Bombay Hospital and a member of the Mumbai Nephrologists Group (MNG), said, "We are very afraid (to carry out transplants) after the development. It's not a protest but out of fear. As there is no clarity, we have stopped taking fresh transplant cases." However, cases that are already lined up at different hospitals will be taken up, he said.

The move comes after Mumbai police unearthed an alleged racket at the privately-run Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital and arrested five doctors on August 9.

"The recent arrests of doctors have raised apprehensions in our fraternity and this can be repeated with us also if we fail to scrutinise documents, which is not our job," he said, adding that nephrologists have stopped taking fresh cases not just in Mumbai but across the state.

Senior nephrologist Umesh Khanna, a member of MNG, said, "All the nephrologists across the city would continue performing cadaver transplants which do not involve the process of verfication but we are not going to take up fresh cases as such transplants require several verifications." PTI